Alternative Report
"Alternative Report" (オルタナティブ・レポート) refers to the original short story found in the 1st Volume of Another Vanguard: Star Road Asuka. Written by Kabuto Chuujou, it serves as a prequel to Another Vanguard: Star Road Asuka focusing on characters other than Asuka Matsumoto. Nothingness Road Kageru Report Nothingness Road Kageru (無導のカゲル) CHAPTER 1 I heard the sound of chains creaking. Alone in the depths of darkness. Both movement and speech. Having been robbed of everything. I had simply denied. Everything in this world. ◆ "Congratulations!" cried the man in a white coat. With a smile widening across his face, he applauded. I raised my eyebrows, wondering what was there to celebrate. I wasn't good with interpersonal relationships, my socially-withdrawn self's only good point was that I was pretty strong in card games. I didn't go to high school, nor did I study, gnawing at my parent's shins, the only thing I wanted to do was to be on the top ranking of the online competition matching site "Fighter's Lounge Jester". "Um, what do you want? I'm busy right now so I am going to close up, please notify us next time you come." I quickly said. Then, the man in a white coat purposely leaned his head in the way. "Did I make a mistake? This is Kinasa-san's house, right?" "Well, I am Kinasa, but..." "Right!" Did he have something to do with my house? With a sideways glance, the suspicious person nodded in satisfaction and grinned as he watched my confusion. "You are the ‘Jester’ top ranker TAIGA, right?" "!" How did he. "Oh, my apologises. Not a top ranker... a former top ranker. Recently you've been in a slump. You haven’t been able to win once on ‘Jester’ all day, day by day your rank drops and finally you got demoted from A rank...Sorry." "You know that much..." The man in a white coat said, "I know everything...about you," with a snake-like laughter. "I am Sakaki Niekawa, the one in charge of some of the operations of ‘Jester’. I have come here today to give you a present." Saying that, Niekawa handed one Vanguard card face-down to me. "This is a special card that we are currently distributing randomly to the users of ‘Jester’. You were fortunate enough to be chosen as the 1st to be issued one.” "Me?" "Yes. That card will change your fate greatly. You will understand by using it. The power of that card which we call the 'Karma Card' ( のカード)." Having said that Niekawa left. Most of what he was saying was right. I participated in the ranking matches of "Jester" under the fighter's name TAIGA and in the last few days I have dropped greatly in ranking. There was nothing else for my socially-withdrawn self, it would be lie if I said I wasn't worried about my sole identity fluctuating. There was also the fact that I could not grasp the cause of failure and that I was seeking something big to change the flow of things. I couldn't ascertain if he was truly part of management. But, let's have a look, it is a card I got as reward after avoiding the public for so long. I should at least check the skill once. Thinking as such, the moment I turned the card over, I was hit by a ferocious nausea. ◆ Leaving behind the unpleasant feeling of vomiting, I returned to my room. Turning over the card once again. When I saw the unit drawn there, I was hit again by a ferocious nausea. However, the food in my stomach had come out earlier, so there was nothing to vomit. This time, I could see the whole picture. That unit is ▉▉▉, ▉ is countlessly buried from the countless ▉▉ that got ▉▉ on its back. The illustration shows that the monster breaks off ▉ from the bare ▉▉, so that ▉▉▉ was made and a miserable image of ▉▉▉ being ▉▉▉▉ directly to the ▉▉ of those who would be the most dignified in ▉▉ was drawn. The grotesque illustration and the shape of the bizarre unit, the atmosphere which was emitted was strange. Something fearful, cold, painful and unspeakable, as if a grudge dwelled within this one card. Was it really such an ugly monster that would change me? As expected, was it not the harassment of the man named Niekawa? "Wrong" There was a voice. From where? Who was it? I did not know. "I am the Karma Card. I have been locked up in this cage. Quickly let me out. Quickly let me out." My head began aching to the point where my head felt like it was about to crack. The voice squeezed out in order to escape. "Let me out...Where are you going" The voice grows louder and yells at me. "Imagine! In your heart! In your mind! Look at the card more! Call to your mind! It is I! Quickly release me!" As it said this, once again I looked at the monster drawn on the card in my hand. How do I imagine it? That's right, I always did this with my eyes closed and chanting.... "Ride, Karma Beast, Vile Gards ( ヴィル・ガルズ)" In the moment that I did this my vision was dyed black. My body became rigid and I was unable to move. The world was being painted over. It was too real to be just my imagination. "Yes, you and I have become one" Then he appeared before me. ‘Vile Gards’. The monstrously evil and ugly monster drawn on the card. "You imagined it! Imagined it! We are one! Gehihi! This is fun! This is fun!" ▉▉ toys with my body. My limbs are bound with tremendous power and cannot escape. "Come! From now on we are one!" A large mouth bursts open from the back of Vile Gards. A myriad of red arms stretched out of the mouth and draw me inwards. If this is my imagination, if this a dream, please let me wake up soon. If it this a hallucination, end it. What did I do. I was just staying indoors playing Vanguard. Yet, why is this happening. "Itadakimasu" Said the voice. ◆ When I awoke, there was no sign of Vile Gards anywhere. Was it a hallucination or something, after all. The proof was that I no longer felt discomfort when looking at Vile Gards’ card. Surely, until a little while ago, I was feeling stressed by the interaction with Niekawa and was getting sick. Because it would be strange to look at a card with such a nice illustration and vomit. Let's build a deck now. I have to fight with Vile Gards. Overwhelmed with curiosity as if I was a boy holding a card for the first time, it felt like I had been born again. Quickly quickly quickly quickly, I wanted to fight as soon as possible. ◆ Half a year had passed since I met Vile Gards. I achieved first place in the ranking of that ‘Jester’. Moreover, I’ve kept it for three months. This was the first time in the history of "Jester", I am the strongest champion in both name and fact. At one point, without realising, I who had been demoted from rank A was the defending champion. Vile Gards was strong, I kept fighting with Vile Gards as an avatar for half a year, and was undefeated. I fought with various fighters. Both low and high rank. And I won against all of them. The accumulated victories and the number of rankings going up satisfied my mind. Why am I recalling such things, because after a long time a visitor has appeared before this house. Since Niekawa's visit six months ago, my life as a fighter has changed my destiny, so I have strange expectations. To tell the truth, I was feeling tired of ‘Jester’. Again, my destiny may start to move. Listening to the doorbell with such thoughts, I jumped up as I headed towards the entrance. ◆ "Hey, he came out, Meteor" There was a boorish man, "You are Taiga Kinasa...right? On the internet you play Vanguard, under the name TAIGA..." There was a strange girl (boy?). "Well, I am Taiga Kinasa, TAIGA is also me." "Right" "Or rather, how do you know about me? Well, I wonder if I'm famous? Since, out of the more than five million participants of Jester, I am the champion who has been ranked first for three months." No way, I never thought I had fans. The boorish man stretches out his hand. Oh, I know this. Does he want to shake hands with the admired champion? I try to take that hand, but the man ignores my hand and clutches my wrist. "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, that's not how you give a handshake!" "Handshake? Why would I shake hands with you?" "Because I am the ranked match champion of that ‘Jester’!" "...What's the point of the ranking when there is only one person?" "Huh?" "It can’t be, have you not realized. You are the only one logged into ‘Jester’. That is why we have appeared before you. "Eh····?" What are they saying? I don’t understand what they mean. The girl (boy?) opens her mouth. "About six months ago, a strange incident occurred all over the world. People who had lived normally until then suddenly lose their vitality and enter a vegetative state...a horrible incident. There are about 5 million people who have suffered from this terrible incident. Of course you know about this, do you not?" "...Well. I’ve always been fighting on ‘Jester’. So, I did not see such news or anything" "A common point between the victims is that they participated in the rank matches of ‘Jester’. When this was discovered, one by one users left from ‘Jester’. Well, the website operation of ‘Jester’ was completely automated and since there were no human operators, the site itself has survived." Strange incident? Vegetative state? Automatic operation? I don't know what they are saying. "In this strange case, originally it was suspected to be due to an unknown new disease, but no trace was found from within the victim's body. Afterwards, through professional investigations, we found that all the 5 million victims have been watching the same nightmare. They were not in a vegetative state, but were trapped in a nightmare" The girl (boy?) pulled out a piece of paper. It was what a certain victim had left behind on the verge of being caught in the nightmare. "Do you remember such a monster? This was what a victim left behind on the verge of being trapped by the nightmare." It was Vile Gards’ figure that was drawn there. "That's my ..." "Kageru! This is the source of infection after all!" "Affirmative. I absolutely won’t let him escape" The man holds my wrist even more tightly. "It hurts! I don’t know what you mean. This strange incident? And what does it have to do with my Vile Gards. No way, is that a strange case happening due to me?" The girl (boy) declares bluntly. "That’s right. Because you have that Karma card, about 5 million people worldwide, ‘Jester’ users are trapped in a nightmare and are still sleeping!" "It doesn’t make sense! Can such a thing happen because of one card!" "The Karma card is a cursed card created with a strong negative image. It contaminates the user and the mind of the opponent with the negative image." The moment I heard those words, there was a scene to flashback to. A hallucination clouded in the mouth of a monster. Cold sweat travels down my cheek. What is this terrible image. Did I forget this? I unconsciously took out my deck from my pocket and pulled out Vile Gards’ card. "If you use that card, it becomes a source of infection spreading the negative image that the Karma card carries...You're already contaminated in that way, so you may not be aware of it." Vile Gards. My strongest avatar and strongest trump card. My magnificent strength. Yet, why, do I feel terror towards that card’s illustration now...? "This card...Vile Gards is my strongest avatar and strongest trump card! As if I would believe that occult story! I get it now. You guys want this Vile Gards. So that's why you’re doing this, threatening me and stealing from me!" I don’t get. I don’t understand anything. That's why, "Crush them" To this voice "Break them" To this impulse "Defeat them" To this feeling "Eliminate them" To this instinct "These guys are the enemy" A method other than entrusting my heart. "Let's fight! I will plant my image on you guys!" Ah, so that's it. I hate myself for noticing it only now. To the fact that already I was not myself. "Kageru! I do not need help! We are ready for ‘Resuscitation’!" "Okay. Handicap level 88!! Lost Respiration!" I still clearly remember the image that I last saw within my consciousness, the moment the man who said that stopped breathing suddenly. I saw an oni. A black hole floating in a galaxy. The furthest ends of nothingness denying everything. Living in that place, the figure of an oni. ◆ "So, Niekawa. What happened?" "Meteor and your son appeared, they defeated Taiga Kinasa. Another one of the Karma cards was taken away by them" "Okay. Then the fourth experiment Jester is concluded with this." "Yes. However, in this experiment, it was proved through the data that the influence of the Karma can be demonstrated without problems. In the next project, I will also infiltrate inside the fifth experiment Crown" "Crown! That’s it! That sounds fun! Just like a clown! Yes, Niekawa, I will leave Crown to you. In exchange, you will have to constantly watch over it. I'm trusting this to you" "Yes, I understand. ...Utsuro Garyuu-dono" ◆ The siren sounds violently. "Vanguard police are late" "Don't say that, Kageru. Our footwork is too light" The two of them hit each other lightly. Even after that fight, they are tough people. "Thank you. If you're still here, what is going to happen to me now?" In the end, I was defeated in the fight. However, at the same time, I felt that the monster that had been nesting in my image had disappeared. "...You have no crimes. It was the man in white clothes that carries the sin. That guy, we will definitely defeat him" "People who are prisoners of the nightmares should wake up because the origin of the karma has disappeared. But for half a year, the influence on your heart that had been contaminated directly by the Karma cards is immeasurable. You should take some time to recuperate" Meteor smiled gently. "I... This card released an image that was eating my mind, after all for half a year, I was merely indulging on the pleasure of winning, just bait. I have no memory. I cannot remember which fighters I fought against and how I fought them for the last six months. I had felt joy only by avoiding interpersonal relationships, closing myself in a single room, defeating others with only a little skill... And so, I probably was chosen as the source of the infection. A monster of gluttony that seeks only his own pleasure and devours others without hesitation." "... So, what are you going to do now?" "You guys...are fighting to help people like me" "It is my mission to destroy all the Karma cards scattered around the world and to deny all the evil negative images." The boorish man, Kageru-san speaks so, and clenching his fist. "And I'm his guardian. This guy would do it too recklessly" Meteor boasts. By the way, in the end, I regret not asking whether they were a boy or girl. "I... I will think about what I should do now. Fortunately, it is likely that I will continue to be socially withdrawn for a while. Time is as it is..." Yes, from now on I will be recuperating at a hospital operated by the Vanguard police to recover my spirit that had been eroded by the Karma. Thanks to Kageru-san, that Karma seems to have disappeared from me. But, perhaps my own weak mind might ask for Vile Gards. In order not to do so, I have to become strong. Pururururu, and the ringing tone echoes. Meteor took out their smartphone from their pocket, and a bit surprised, started talking. "Well then. We will wipe out the next Karma" Kageru-san says, holding Meteor, who continues the call, under his arm and starts walking. Meteor continues the conversation while being held. Ha? Oi? What do you mean? Oi Yamato! That's called abandoning taking care of your child... Wait! I’m the owner of your shop!? What do you want? Doing things of your own accord, you know, that’s not a request, it's a threat. We don’t have free time.... Oi, is that true? Oi! Stop! Don’t cut the call! Ugaaaaa!!!" Kageru departs in a cool manner. Only Meteor's unsuitably angry shouting echoes. "So, Meteor, where are we going next?" "Kanae City!" Report Nothingness Road Kageru CHAPTER 1 (This translation is most likely to be wrong on some parts so feel free to correct it) Source can be found here Category:Another Vanguard